A Positive Role Model

Parents around the country should be thanking their lucky stars for Larry Fitzgerald. Especially parents of kids who play sports. Among the ranks of the NFL's most cantankerous and Prima Donna-esque players, wide receivers, Larry Fitzgerald is like a breath of fresh air. Not only is he a fantastic wideout - anyone in America who watched this years' Super Bowl can recognize this fact - but he is truly a good person. In his years in the league (after being a first round draft pick in 2004), there has rarely been a negative news story about Larry Fitzgerald. He has never had true character or image problems - on the field or off. He got the huge contract he had been playing for early last year - with $30 million in guarantees. He's going to be co-gracing the cover of Madden 2010 this year. He was a hero of the Arizona Cardinals' post-season and has become one of the more recognizable NFL players in the country since.

Yet none of this has caused Larry Fitzgerald to join the likes of Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Chad Ocho Cinco (yes, it's officially his name now - I'm not kidding). He hosts camps for kids in his home state of Minnesota. He's getting his own ice cream flavor to support breast cancer research.

I know that it's far more sensational to write stories about the negative and outrageous things that public figures do - but I think people who have such a positive influence and set such a gleaming example need to make the news as well.

For Marriage

I'm watching the new Showtime show, Nurse Jackie, right now (which is pretty damn awesome by the way) and I finally saw a logical reason for marriage. Of course, the stipulation is that you have to be pregnant or want to be pregnant for this reason to actually make any sense.

If you're pregnant with your boyfriend's child and he dies suddenly - you may get nothing. If you're married, you're the wife. It's sacred. You get everything.

Twitter

Every time there is a new internet trend (ie blogging, MySpace, Facebook), I am completely skeptical about it, think it's lame and refuse to join. Then, eventually, someone or something convinces me to join and I subsequently become obsessed with said internet trend.

And so goes the story with Twitter.

I obsessively read MMQB on si.com and lately Peter King can not stop talking about Twitter and relating "tweets" in his column. I finally couldn't take it any more and I had to sign myself up for a Twitter account. Now I'm hooked.

I can read what Larry Fitzgerald has to say about his bowling scores. I can get live updates about Redskins training camp from Chris Cooley and Rocky McIntosh. I can hear about The Office writers' activities from Mindy Kaling.

This is way too much fun.

911

I have been lax about paying attention to this blog lately, but I think it's about time I step it up. I spent most of yesterday running errands and talking to myself and it made me realize that maybe I need a little more expressive outlet than I'm giving myself. Today: a rant.

Man Calls 911 Over Son's Messy Room

This is just ridiculous. This has got to be the 5th or 6th unnecessary 911-call story that I have read in the last 3 or 4 months. And I'm sure those are just the ones that are so insane that they have got to be picked up by the media. In February or March there were a rash of 911 calls relating to unsatisfactory service at eating establishments. Seriously??

I feel like the punishments for frivolous 911 calls are nowhere near severe enough. If people knew that they could spend a week or two in jail and face significant monetary consequences, they would probably think twice about tying up the lines for a service that is meant to save lives. And I'm not talking about things like kids accidentally or intentionally (not knowing any better) dialing 911. These stories are about grown people, supposed adults, who don't seem to know the difference between right and wrong; their head or their asses.

If anything comes of these inflammatory news stories, I'm hope it's harsher penalties. People need to pay the price for wasting community resources and taking attention away from legitimate emergencies.

What's Wrong in Denver

With the amount of media attention and pressure on athletes (both in their professional and personal lives), it's easy to forget how young most of them are. When a young man is leading an NFL team on the national stage (not to mention in a town that is famous for their rabid sports fans - especially football fans), he seems larger-than-life and often wiser than his years. But this recent hoopla concerning Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos just goes to show that a kid in his mid-20's, no matter that he's a starting QB, is still a kid in his mid-20's.


It seems to me that Jay Cutler, although he probably has reason to be hurt over the Matt Cassel trade attempt, is allowing his young, hormonal brain and his aggressive, media-circus-hungry agent to let this situation spin completely out of control. This is one of the problems with throwing money, fame and a sort of power at young men who have never had to grow up past the guidance of coaches, agents and lawyers.

I'm not actually getting on a soapbox here. I don't want to change the game of football or who plays it. I'm just mildly amused at how worked up everyone is getting over what is really just a pretty obvious sign of immaturity.

T.O. to Buffalo

I understand why Buffalo picked up T.O. I do. They've struggled for a long time and they are reaching a point where their youngest fans (few though they may be) hardly remember the last time that the team made the playoffs. But in some of the pre-signing conjecture I heard, comments were made about Buffalo having "no receivers".

Lee Evans is a star-caliber receiver who is stuck in a small-market, underperforming team. Last year he signed a new contract, making him the 3rd highest paid receiver in the league (behind only Steve Smith and Larry Fitzgerald at the time - and I believe it the three still hold the top spots). He caught for over 1000 yards last year (and that's even with a drastic drop in productivity in the latter-half of the season, a fact I was painfully aware of with Evans as one of my top Fantasy receivers). Granted he only had 3 touchdowns, but there was a hell of a mess with the Buffalo QB situation last year and Lee can't be held accountable for that. A lot of the drop in his productivity was due to that, and I also think that opposing teams began to catch on and place primary importance on covering Evans - because they don't actually have anyone else substantial.

Based on T.O.'s first years with other teams (everyone and their brother has posted the stats, so I'm not going to bother), Buffalo probably made a good call. Though I kinda wish they hadn't picked him up so quickly. It would have been very interesting to see how long he would have stayed on the market otherwise, and how little he would have ended up working for.

"G"

I have to be honest with you. I cannot stand those new "G" commercials. I don't think that anything has ever made me want to drink Gatorade less than these new commercials.

At first, they weren't clear, and I'm sure that they were meant to be "mysterious". Ooooo. What is this new "G" thing? I am so intrigued that I must run right out and buy it. As soon as I can figure out whatever the hell it is.

Now that, in the wake of the Superbowl complete unveiling, I know what it is I am supposed to be enticed to buy, I want to buy it even less.

You cannot underestimate how much these commercials annoy me.

They are filled with insanely famous people, moderately famous people and quite a few people who I have either never seen before or they are just "Regular People" inserted into the lineup for some half-assed attempt at emphasis and inclusion.

I know that I'm not an ad exec. But I do know that I am a hyper-aware media addict and semi-compulsive consumer. I know what advertising makes me want to hop in my car and head right out to my nearest going-out-of-business electronics store to buy that new Sony TV. Because sports are shot on a Sony, so shouldn't I watch them on a Sony? (And because I am almost irresistibly drawn to do whatever Peyton Manning tells me to do.)

And those new "G" commercials don't make me thirsty. They make me nauseous.